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Description
He licensed technology from Oxford, sold it to Navy SEALs and the US Department of Defense, brought the price from $30 a shot to $5, and is now stocking shelves at Chevron and Equinox. This is what it looks like to create a new category from scratch and refuse to stop.
Jon Bier sits down with Michael Brandt — Stanford CS grad, 2:35 marathoner, and co-founder and CEO of Ketone-IQ — for one of the most genuinely nerdy, genuinely exciting conversations about building a brand that didn't exist before. Jon helped launch Ketone-IQ early on and didn't invest. He'll tell you that himself. This is the conversation where he probably fully processes that decision.
Ketones aren't a trend. They're a nutritional primitive — a new macronutrient. The kind of thing you can't speed-run. And Michael Brandt is the rare founder who built his entire business philosophy around that truth.
The category is coming. They just got here first.
In this episode:
• Why creating a new category is a decade-long bet — and why that's exactly the right bet if you want to build something fundamental instead of fast
• How Ketone-IQ went from a $6M DoD contract and $30-a-shot margins to nationwide grocery stores and a near-half-billion-dollar valuation
• What Jon and Michael actually talk about when they talk about celebrity deals, brand equity, and why the brands nobody can name are the real cautionary tale
Find Michael & Ketone-IQ:
• Michael on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeldbrandt/• Ketone-IQ: https://ketone.com• Ketone-IQ on IG:https://www.instagram.com/ketone/
Timestamps:
0:00 - Building a New Category From Scratch: Why It's Harder (and Bigger) Than Anything Else
1:18 - How Ketone IQ Started: Oxford, the Military, and $30-a-Shot Pro Athletes
4:01 - What Ketones Actually Do and Why Michael Got Obsessed
7:08 - The DoD Relationship: Research, Procurement, and On-Base Retail
8:02 - The Early Positioning Problem: Ketones ≠ the Keto Diet
10:22 - Why Sampling Is Everything for a Product You Actually Feel
13:36 - Jon Bier's Regret: Why He Didn't Invest (And Why the Odds Were Against It)
15:18 - How Marathon Running Gave Michael the Belief to Do the Impossible
21:25 - The First Sign of Real Momentum: People Who Tried It Couldn't Stop
23:17 - "We're Not Selling Ketones — We're Selling a Feeling"
25:03 - Grün, Element, and How to Win Without a Product People Can Feel
29:27 - Trend Proof vs. Trend Dependent: Why Ketones Are a Nutritional Primitive
32:43 - How Jon Bier Spots Winners (And Why Most Brands Fail Because They're Too Early)
35:26 - How to Cannibalize Yourself Before a Competitor Does
39:10 - The Jake Paul and Jeff Wu Connection (and the Antifund Story)
41:43 - What the Rogan Partnership Actually Means for a Brand
45:40 - Why DTC Alone Is Dead and Retail Is the Startup Within the Startup
49:08 - Why the Brands That Won DTC Stopped Innovating
53:26 - How Celebrity Ambassadors Unlock Retail Doors
56:03 - What Retailers Actually Want to Hear (It's Not About the Product)
1:00:07 - Why Big Companies Destroy the Brands They Buy
1:02:50 - Where Ketone IQ Is Now and What the Exit Math Looks Like
1:05:10 - What Michael Would Actually Do With the Money